“…Telomerase activity is gradually activated during the course of carcinogenesis, 19 and its catalytic subunit, hTERT, has been shown to increase in late‐stage cancers and metastases 20,21 . Telomerase and hTERT have been detected in small tissue samples from patients with CRC, including exfoliated cancer cells in colonic washings 22 and colonic brush specimens of CRC 23 . These assays, however, used surgically resected, rather than in situ , specimens.…”